Catania

On Wednesday our orientation took us on a bus trip to Catania. Its the major city ( 2nd largest in Sicily) about 10 miles north of us. The city itself sits on the water, so has a very large port and also beach areas ( very pretty) . We spent the day in the city center, in Italy always called the "Piazza Duomo". It is almost always found adjacent to the mother church and various statues, temples etc of the city's patron saint. In Catania, the symbol is the elephant. ( I have to find out why??) But we spent the afternoon exploring the churches ( beautiful), the cafe's ( yum) and the fish market ( stinky). They have the largest street market in Sicily here, full of fish, meat, vegetables, spices, fruits and anything else you can imagine. It's unbelievable- the sights, sounds, smells are out of this world. We plan on returning every Sat morning to buy fresh foods. Not for the weak stomach though- there were def. large animal heads and carcass' everywhere- live escargot and prawns crawling all around. Mangia! For lunch I had the best swordfish I have ever tasted- such a fun day!!